I am about to buy my first wing to give wing foiling a go. I am wondering what size is good to start with.

I am a confident and frequent kite foiler. 185cm, 77kg with a Sunova crossover and GoFoil Iwa to learn on.

I have had a couple of goes kite foiling on a SUP and have a fair idea how it feels to wobble on an underpowered cork with a wing that doesn't want to fly.

My inclination is to buy a 5 or 6m wing, with a leaning towards the 6m. I have been watching the Melbourne winging crew and they seemed to make no progress with 4m wings until they went out in 20+ knots. I would be thinking more of around 15 knot riding.

Apart from learning, my initial plan is to use the wing to play with the surf in gusty, cross-off conditions that are not suitable for kite foiling. Obviously reality may change all that.

I am intending to buy a Switch wing. They were released yesterday. I have a heap of Switch kites and they have all been excellent and the prices are hard to beat, especially for something I am dabbling in.

Switch publish the technical specs of their wings. I can't find specs for any other brand of wing so it's hard to get an idea of what the issues are likely to be in terms of relative size and tripping over wing tips.

5

Iwa wing: I just had an experimental session yesterday, where I used a smaller board and my Iwa wing instead of the Maliko200. It was great once up, faster and maneuverable, but quite a bit harder to get up on the foil. If you can access a larger wing, at least in learning phase, you will have more fun.

My experience with wings is they take more wind than you'd expect and it SUCKS when you underpowered. My 4m is maybe doable 16-18kt, but gets fun at 20. If you are hoping for light/medium wind, I'd probably go for the 6m. They shed power easily, so under mid 20s you'd be fine. [as you're a kiter too: I think 4m is equivalent to 8m and surfboard, 5m to 10m, 6m to 12m]

But if you do want to change high winds too, then the 5m gives you the middle ground solution....you'll lose a little low end though. Especially with the Iwa.

Wing brands...so many new entrants, hard to keep track of. I originally thought they are all the same, but found out they are not. Personally I'd wait for independent reviews before buying any new release. Unless they are cheap enough to gamble on, versus used prices on a proven name brand.

Gorgo,I have a 1st gen 5m duotone wing went out today in 25 knots + winds

Handled it well sometimes a little overpowered,ok a lot overpowered.

But my suggestion would be 5mtr. 6 is a lot to handle when starting out.

@77 kg I'd go a 5m for Melbourne conditions. I'm 75 kg and foiling in 12 knots with a 5m F-One Swing and 1700 cm? front foil.
I know that Switch went through a lot of prototypes before they settled on this one so I'm confident it will perform.
I'm hoping to be able to demo the 6m Switch wing soon to see if it does make a significant difference in really light winds or if it is just a bit too big and cumbersome.

If you are truly going to wait to wing in 15 knots and be happy, 5 meters will not be a problem as long as you have a high lift foil. The problem is when you get the wing, you will become so obsessed with getting past the beginner stage that you go out anytime there is some wind, even if light, and then wish you had a 6 meter wing. Anyway, that is what happened with me, so now I have a 6 and a 5. Learning to handle a 6 is not a big deal (and I am smaller than you) and makes using smaller wings much easier. Wings handle being "overpowered" much, much better than kites.

Gorgo
Never heard of SWITCH,but they seem reasonably priced

Checked their website the wings seem to have a huge wind range

Emma is right,you get hooked, any wind is good wind.Then you start looking at a quiver and your bank balance.

Gone from hating the wind,as a surfer,now to loving it

Agree. At your weight... 5m

Thanks for the comments. After some email exchanges with Felix at Switch I ordered the 5m. He suggested the 5m would be easier to handle and can be faster once up on the foil.

I'll learn the basics and if I have to use stronger winds then that's ok.

I suspect I'll be a little underfoiled in light winds with a GoFoil Iwa at 1500cm. If I decide I need to chase light wind then I'll probably have caught the winging bug by them and need a bigger wing, bigger foil and probably a dedicated board.

5 was the right choice I think. It's a size you'll always want in melbs because it covers the 15-20 knot range perfectly.

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Gorgo said..
Thanks for the comments. After some email exchanges with Felix at Switch I ordered the 5m. He suggested the 5m would be easier to handle and can be faster once up on the foil.

I'll learn the basics and if I have to use stronger winds then that's ok.

I suspect I'll be a little underfoiled in light winds with a GoFoil Iwa at 1500cm. If I decide I need to chase light wind then I'll probably have caught the winging bug by them and need a bigger wing, bigger foil and probably a dedicated board.

I'm learning at the moment using both the Iwa and Maliko 200 with the Kai tail. You can pick up used Maliko wings pretty cheap, would potentially double your time on the water.